When Packers fans look back on the 2008 season five years from now, they will see it as a success, despite their 6-10 record.
They will wonder how the decision to choose Aaron Rodgers over a declining Brett Favre was ever a decision at all, like Brady vs. Bledsoe or Aikman vs. Walsh.
They will look back and see the start of something special — maybe not as special as the Favre era (certainly less hero worship) — but a rare successful transfer of power from one elite quarterback to the next.
Make no mistake: 2008 Green Bay Packers were not your average 6-10 football team.
They outscored their opponents by 29 points, had a +7 turnover differential, and finished fifth in the league in scoring. In short, they were unlucky.
You can believe that Aaron Rodgers doesn’t possess some bogus trait that makes quarterbacks solely responsible for winning close game in the ultimate team sport, or you can see Green Bay’s seven losses in 2008 by five points or less for what it was: a fluke.
This power ranking is not based on Green Bay’s boffo preseason.
G.M. Ted Thompson built his offense up the right way, with homegrown talent all over the offensive line, and at the skill positions. Some of the picks weren’t popular at the time (Rodgers, Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson), but they have given Green Bay enviable depth at every position except tackle. Even tight end is deep, with emerging receiver Jermichael Finley a sleeper to score a half dozen times.
This is an an offense that should be in the top ten in scoring for a long time, so they just need their defense to be average in order to contend for the division title.
The Packers hired defensive coordinator Dom Capers to install a flexible 3-4 defense. Capers is a big upgrade in terms of coaching talent and the move should pay off in the long run, but it requires the majority of the defenders to undertake new responsibilities.
Green Bay has the linebackers necessary to pull off the move, and their defensive line has potential if first-round pick B.J. Raji emerges alongside Cullen Jenkins, one of the most underrated players in football. The secondary is hoping Al Harris and Charles Woodson don’t get old all at once.
If defense coalesces, it’s hard to find a weakness in this roster. The NFC North looks better than it has in memory, but there is nothing stopping the Packers from winning it.
We trust their head coach and quarterback a lot more than their rivals in Minnesota. Brett Favre said previously that he wanted to join the Vikings in 2008 out of revenge, but perhaps Rodgers and Thompson will be the ones exacting revenge for all the drama Favre has put them through the last four years.
Key Player: Rodgers. He doesn’t need to get better necessarily, but he does need to stay healthy despite a shaky situation at tackle.
Rookie to watch: Raji. He could split time between end and tackle, but he’ll be a key to the run defense at either spot.
Best veteran acquisition: None. Just not Ted Thompson’s style.
Key game: Week Eight, vs. Vikings. Do we really need to explain this one?
This is, by far, the best and most accurate depiction of the Packers 2008 season I’ve seen.
How can a team that drafted in the top 10 be ranked in the top 10? You don’t lose 5 games (4 to non playoff teams) in a row, while in the thick of the playoff hunt, just because you’re unlucky, you lose them because you’re a bad team.
And the only thing that 6-10 team has done to improve is draft a tackle who is already injured, and switch to a 3-4, which involves moving their best defensive player to a position he has never played before. McCarthy is a joke of a coach, whose ignorance is only eclipsed by that of the white haired buffoon of a GM, whose massive ego will forever hold the Packers down.
Majik Man,
Do everyone a favor and shutup. The ignorance of your post is astounding!
Favre proved he was a diva last year already. The Packers are better off without him. Thompson is anything but a diva. Diva’s love the camera, and TT most definitely does not.
Let’s not call a 6-10 team better than they were. If you want to say it was fluke go ahead but realize that it can be equally flukey to win games.
The NFL is a man’s league and you either win or you don’t — and winning is hard. Why must we make victories (or losses) less significant by saying they were flukes? Face it, the Packers lost those games whether you want to blame it on coaching, talent, or the inability for Rodgers to win those close games — they still lost the games. The record book will always show their record at 6-10 and that’s a fact.
TXGBFAN
I don’t believe I even mentioned Favre, he had nothing to do with my post. But it seems that bashing Favre is the only defense Thompson supporters really have.
Please explain how my post was ignorant. Everything I said was fact based, except my opinions of TT and MM’s intelligence. I never said Thompson was a diva, just an idiot and a poor GM, which his 31-33 record supports pretty clearly. But everything else I said was fact.
I realize that you’re a blind faith, never questioning Packer fan, but you can’t honestly blame last season on bad luck, that would be considered ignorance. So what else is it? Let me guess, injuries. Every team has injuries, good teams can still win, while the bad ones hide behind this lame excuse while losing 5 games in a row.
But if you’re still convinced that my post was ignorant, then please shed some light and dispute what I said. But do us a favor, and try to use actual information. Don’t just come back and say “Favre sucks, you’re stupid, the refs cost the Pack 10 games last year, if Barnett didn’t get hurt, we win the Super Bowl, etc., etc.”
@ge3kusa-
While you are correct the record will stand, what exactly is your point? Did you even watch the Packer play last season, or are you a Vikings troll looking for a way to make yourself feel better?
Preseason power rankings?
The season started two days ago.
lol wut?
“Let’s not call a 6-10 team better than they were.”
That was LAST year. So by your logic, these preseason rankings should be the exact inverse of the draft positions?? Wow, that’s real intelligent and insightful. Key injuries, a terribly predictable defensive scheme and not catching any breaks made this team have a terrible record last year. They were a better team than their 6-10 record showed, in the identical way that they were not as good of a team in ’07 as their 13-3 would tell.
How in the heck do the Dolphins go from 1-15 to division winners in one season if you’re “last year’s record” argument has any merit to it at all?!?!?!?!
Well done Greg,
This is a very prudent assessment of the Green Bay Packers in 2009.
I am not a smart person. I do not know much, but I do know this…..
It will be a remarkable scene along Ocean Beach Dr. in South Beach Miami come Super Bowl Sunday.
There is nothing like the vision of a girl in a bikini slowly eating a Brat, and watching the Packers in another Superbowl.
The Packers are Super Bowl bound if they stay healthy.
Majik Man, how dumb are you? How can you not realize how well TT has put this team together since he got here?
Where would we be if he didn’t….
1. Draft Aaron Rodgers with his first pick as GM?
2. Taken pro bowler Nick Collins with his next one?
3. Find superstar Greg Jennings in the late 2nd round?
4. Get future superstar Jermichael Finley in the 3rd round last year?
5. Trade for Ryan Grant?
6. Sign Charles Woodson?
7. Draft our entire starting O line besides Clifton?
Our promising young WRs James Jones and Jordy Nelson? Signing LB Brandon Chillar and drafting Hawk, Poppinga, Bishop?
9. Draft NFL ready players Raji and Mathews this year?
10. Most importantly, TURN DOWN brINT faRVe!! We would have lost more then 10 games last year with him back there. I shouldn’t have to explain that to you, but since you have a deep hate for TT, I’m assuming you are butt-sore over losing brINT.
And before you say “He drafted AJ Hawk with the 5th pick!!! Justin Harrell!!” Go take a lot at those drafts and at the players after them and tell me who we should have taken instead. AJ Hawk hasn’t been productive as a #5overall pick should be, but hes extremely solid and doesnt make mistakes.
Oh and did I mention we have all this talent and are still 20$M under the salary cap?
I just don’t understand TT haters. Do you honestly think another GM could have done a better job? How?
He produced the talent to have a top ten Offense last year, and a top ten Defense the year before that. It’s not his fault Bob Sanders was so easy to game plan against. Enter Dom Capers. But keep on hating until we get to Miami, can’t wait to see what you say then.
12to85ftw
Again I will state, I have yet to mention Brett Favre, yet Thompson supporters go right to blasting him. Why is that your only defense?
And I’m pretty sure the Bob Sanders thing was Ted’s fault, seeing as how, you know, he hired him, pushing Jim Bates out the door in the process.
There were 7 Pro Bowlers taken in the next 25 picks after Hawk, so maybe one of those guys. There were only 2 Pro Bowlers after Harrel, but many solid contributors. And you just named off 6 successful (in your eyes) draft picks. That’s out of 43 picks. That’s about a 14% success rate, nice work. That number goes well with that 31-33 record, and one playoff appearance. How about 1 Pro Bowler out of 43 draft picks. That’s pretty amazing as well. Yeah, what was I thinking saying Thompson is a joke?
As far as another GM doing a better job, Mike Freaking Sherman had a winning record and more playoff appearances as a GM. So yes, I honestly do think there was someone better out there. Perhaps a trained monkey?
So before resorting to name calling, try checking some facts before blasting someone else for their opinion which is based entirely on facts. And I would hold off on buying those Super Bowl tickets, at least until your QB can win more than 6 games in a season.
Majik….he didnt say you mentioned Brett Favre, simply stated that he was a big decision for a GM to make. Simply put, the decisions for TT have been solid for any GM, although not popular.
Draft picks are always a crapshoot….(Charles Rogers, Demitrius Underwood, and countless bears receivers…..) These picks tend to be difficult so I dont understand how you say TT failed in that department when he has been so successful…..
Try to get out of the stats to back up arguments and use a bit of…..Reality? TT is solid, the Packers WILL be a good team despite last years record and that is that.
morowcjw
It’s easy to say someone is incorrect when you’re basing your argument on pure speculation, such as saying the Packers “WILL” be a good team. You have nothing to prove that this will be a reality, only your personal opinion, while I have stats and facts backing my opinion of Thompson’s ineptitude.
And I wouldn’t say that 1 Pro Bowler out of 43 picks is successful, quite the opposite actually. I wouldn’t say that 31-33 is solid either, especially considering he took over a perennial playoff team.
“I’m assuming you are butt-sore over losing brINT.” That is the Favre bit that I was talking about. With no leg to stand on, Thompson backers always resort to bashing Favre, because they have no way to prove their point.
As far as telling me to stop using stats, which are facts, and to start using “Reality”, this is quite the oxymoron, seeing as how facts are the basis of reality. Except for people who base reality on personal opinions and speculation rather than statistical information.
Gregg, you have to be a frequent visitor to the Football Future Forum’s, but that take is exactly the same things we as a forum have been saying all year long.
http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=327555&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=42
That and you and pretty much only Michael Lombardi being on the Cullen Jenkins Bandwagon.
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Tavern-talk-bluechip-players-part-5.html
He puts him at the same level as ARod and Greg Jennings and only has 10 blue chip DE’s in the whole league, with Jenkins included.
MajikMan:
When you say “just because you’re unlucky, you lose them (games) because you’re a bad team” this is not a factual statement. It has no basis in fact, it is merely opinion. The offense was superb and as far as I can figure, they were part of that team.
The team in 2008 was destroyed by the dc, Bob Sanders, who couldn’t adapt after Sean Payton and the Saints tore through his piss-poor, predictable schemes. Even I knew what the Pack’s d was going to do before the snap.
I know you hate TT and MM. I also know that hatred is an irrational emotion. I won’t try to convince you that both men have put together a team that can challenge for the Super Bowl. I would never be so indiscreet as to put a finger into that boiling stew in which you are immersed.
You got me on the earlier opinion, what I said wasn’t purely fact about being a bad team. I’ll rephrase, it’s very unlikely that luck was the only factor in dropping 5 straight to bad teams. But it’s a lot more likely they lost because they’re bad, rather than unlucky. The same could be said as to the Lions, they were unlucky, that’s why they were 0-16. But it takes a bad team to put themselves in that situation, just like the 6-10 Pack, in my opinion.
While the offense may have been “superb,” the defense and special teams were mediocre at best. And last I checked, it takes all 3 units to make a TEAM. When 2 out of 3 units are sub par (league rankings and a 6-10 record will back this up), it generally constitutes a bad overall team.
And again, Bob Sanders, he’s the guy TT pushed Bates and his top 10 D out for, so it’s hard to say that wasn’t Thompson’s fault.
Karen Honeycomb Rodgers isn’t what people think he is. I hope the Packers go 6-10 again in 2009.
MajikMan-
First off… with a name like that, clearly you must be living in the past. First strike.
Secondlystrike: YOU DON’T BACK THE PACK. When your wife makes a decision and there’s no telling her otherwise- you don’t fall out of love with her and then go bash her in front of all her friends do you? You just kind of sit back and maybe grumble about it to yourself, remind yourself why it is that you love her and hope for the best right??
Third strike: You’re a pesimist. Pesimists and football do not mix. Think about it… 32 teams, 1 winner. Only one out of 32 fans is happy, when all is said and done. Only an optimist can have enough resolve to shun failure year in and year out, while clinging to the hopes that their team will win it all.
I’m only 34 years old. I’ve been a die-hard Packer fan since conception. I truely bleed green and gold. But never in my 34 years, have I disrespected my team- or it’s fans, by dwelling upon the negatives. Perhaps you would have prefered riding that ol’ Favre tractor until the tires completely fell off, letting Rodgers walk and then maybe picking up Alex Smith off the waiver wire in 2010? Better yet- perhaps you would have felt more comfortable if you were the Packers G.M.? Am I right in assuming that Samkon Gado would still be in our backfield?
What you need to do, Mr. Majik, is take a moment and try to put yourself into a respectable die-hard Lions fan’s shoes. He certainly had full right to- but he never sported the shirt that said “Fire Millen”. Better yet… he’s never seen the Lombardi Trophy up close, but he still hopes to one day and as a Lions fan.
Thank God your a Packer fan and shut up already!! Unless of course you wanna talk up the new 3-4 Defense or chat about how the youngest team in football is being included in SB XLIV discussion.
GO PACK.
it is fact that the packers were plagued with injury last year, and fact that good teams cannot overcome the injuries the packers sustained last season. I am sure that the injuries were not the sole reason for the packer’s “disappointment” last season, but with the injuries to jenkins, clifton, barnett, collins, jones, harrel, bigby, to a lesser extent grant, and im sure im forgetting some, it can be considered unlucky. the 22 starters last year missed 44 games with injury. with just about all of them back this year, you have to expect an improvement, despite the fact that you cant predict injuries.
Gracious — there are so many Monday morning quarterbacks around here.
No one has a crystal ball in telling how draft picks will work out — no one bats 1.000 — but Thompson has done a fantastic job as a talent evaluator in rebuilding the team from when he took over as GM from Mike Sherman.
Thompson’s job from day-1 was to position the team for the post-Favre era — and he has ably done the job.
The Packers are deep and talented. They have a second year starter at qb, and are way under salary cap. The team is a work in progress and it is progressing very well.
As a Packers stockholder, I am very pleased with the job my GM has done.
That includes his choice for head coach.
PB ARMY
It’s not that I’m a bad fan or whatever you will say, the fact is that I am able to think for myself and form my own opinions, rather than just blindly agreeing with whatever management does, such as running a team into the ground.
And just because my name is Majik Man doesn’t mean I’m living in the past, just means I liked Majik. That would be like me assuming that you have your own army because the word army is in your name.
Time to put on the big boy pants and start thinking for yourself. It’s ok to question and disagree with team management sometimes, it doesn’t make you a bad fan, just an intelligent one.
Also, please explain what “Secondlystrike” is.
This is too high. Just watched the Bears/Packers and the Pack looked exactly like they did last year. If not for Cutler’s amazingly bad night they probably should have lost at home to the Bears with that effort.
Luck will gain them two wins but I don’t quite yet see what makes them so good other than a great preseason, which everyone knows is meaningless. Maybe their D is amazing all the sudden but I think it was more the Bears sucking than anything else.